Wither Print 2 of 3

Today marks the death of the Seattle Post Intelligencer. Published since the civil war, nothing could stop this paper, except our situation today. Hearst, who owns it and killed it today, promises a dynamic online replacement. What will it replace? What is now lost? Interestingly the SeattlePI.com website has a strong video about what will be lost here. The site, as promised, will feature new columnists: a raft of current and former government officials. What does that feel like to you? I can only conclude that a part of our civilization is lost now unless we can organize somehow to replace this necessary imperfect creation, the newspaper. We cannot function very well at all without it. And we have to do this fast.

FYI . . .

Steve Brodner feels he is a newcomer to illustration but that's because he has a really bad memory. Much of his career is worth remembering in any case. Most of it has been about a guy getting to absolutely live his dream; making pictures that make stabs at telling the truth in print about things he feels are important. He is still at it, now moving across platforms, believing, with some justification, that we are all content providers and can now see our ideas shape and get shaped by all manner of media. This site is dedicated to that. And above all, to the best of our imperfect faculties, to telling the truth.

Caricature is…

Caricature, which is a subcategory of illustration, is about finding the narrative elements within a portrait and making them clear as tools in making literal and figurative points. When done for publication, it is not merely about making big things bigger and small things smaller. It is storytelling. This involves knowledge about what is under the surface of a face and teasing it to the top. Caricature is not the destination. It is the journey. It's the bike you ride.